Malice in his voice
by Possum132
Summary: Severus Snape doesn't seem happy about Tonks and Remus, maybe there's a reason. Follow up to Snape never eats here, thank God.
1. Chapter 1: Nymphadora Tonks

**Malice in his voice**

_This can be read as a stand-alone fic, but if you read the prequel "Why Snape never eats here" and the sequels "Threesome at Spinner's End", "Dumbledore was pretty firm with him", "I taught him! I thought I knew him!", "Well done, Draco, well done" and "Power the Dark Lord knows not" you will get a better feel for the particular version of the Potterverse in which this story is set._

**Chapter 1: Tonks**

She looks across at Sirius, who is slumped forward on the table, his head pillowed on his crossed arms. Dead drunk! He'd been drinking before the meeting started, and then the meeting had been delayed, and delayed again, and he'd kept drinking. Remus had tried to get the bottle of firewhisky away from him, and been snarled at for his pains, thank god Dumbledore had finally sent word he couldn't attend and they should hold the meeting without him, and so he hadn't seen Sirius in this state.

Meeting had been dead boring anyway, Snape was even more surly than usual when he found out that Dumbledore wasn't coming, and his report had been terse and perfunctory. Strange, though, he had lingered when the meeting finished, he usually left immediately. He was still there, lounging in a chair across the table from Sirius, with his boots up on another chair, Molly Weasley would have kittens if she was still looking after the house but of course the Weasleys had decamped back to the Burrow as soon as school started, and now Sirius was the only permanent resident of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, though Remus stayed as often as he could.

Snape's eyes are lingering on Sirius, he's smirking unpleasantly, pouring himself another generous measure of firewhisky and doesn't look in any hurry to leave. What an evil bastard he is, but, mmm, he looks good in those Muggle clothes. Odd, really, he must be a pureblood, after all he is a Slytherin and a Death Eater, but hardly any pureblood wizards have any idea how to dress in Muggle clothes, some of the outfits she'd seen at the Quidditch World Cup had been amazing – amazingly awful, that is. He seems very comfortable in his black jeans, black shirt and black leather jacket, and with his hair tied back Muggle-fashion in a pony tail, he doesn't look like snarky Professor Snape, he looks like a cool guy, a successful guy in advertising or the music industry. OK, a bit older than the guys she usually fancies, but definitely the type she looked out for in Muggle nightclubs.

Not that she was ever going to get seriously involved with a Muggle, a man would have to _really_ be able to look after himself to hold her interest, another Auror maybe, or one of the Gringott's curse breakers. Pity there didn't seem to be a lot of unattached, good-looking Aurors or curse breakers around …. Most of the blokes she admired at the office were older and married, and the younger ones either already had girlfriends or … it was pretty clear they weren't interested in getting involved with someone who could be challenging.

Surreptiously she sneaks another look at Snape. By Merlin, but Muggle clothes are a _lot_ more revealing than wizard's robes, he's got _gorgeous_ long legs, narrow hips, slim waist, rather a nice chest, his shoulders are broader than she would have thought, and his arms are well muscled, stirring all those cauldrons must be keeping him fit. He looks so different without all that greasy black hair hanging over his face, not handsome exactly, not with that nose … but cartloads of personality – and is that an earring? Professor Snape wears an _earring_? She's glad she's wearing Muggle clothes, too, a brief singlet top that shows her midriff and a short skirt – her Dad really didn't like her wearing clothes like that, he was Muggle-born but for some reason he preferred her to wear robes. Mum was so much more pragmatic – just told her to _always_ have her wand on hand, and where in Diagon Alley to buy Contraceptive Potion. Well, Sirius had told her a bit about what her Mum got up to before she was married, all the Blacks are a bit wild, it was a family tradition.

She remembers the night Sirius got Snape to show them the Dark Mark, the Mark is a bit creepy, but he'd been acting like he was interested, _very_ interested, but since then he'd ignored her. Well, he hadn't actually ignored her, he'd made sure he arrived just in time for the start of a meeting, and left as soon as it was over. Probably didn't want to be at Headquarters any longer than he had to while the kids were here – the Head of Slytherin would want to spend the bare minimum of time in a house infested with a pack of cheeky Gryffindor brats who didn't do a very good job of hiding their lack of respect.

Is he still interested? Oh yes, he has his eyes on her, and his usual sneer is missing, there's a hungry, wolfish look on his face. She doesn't look away, doesn't try to avoid his gaze. She thinks, Sirius would be pissed off if I started going out with Snape, well, I don't need his big brother act, I'm a qualified Auror for god's sake. If I want to ride this pony, it's _my_ business, not his. He's in no position to lecture _me_ about risk-taking behaviour – accompanying Harry to King's Cross when Dumbledore _told_ him to keep his head down, chugging firewhisky as if was butterbeer, wrestling Remus in the garden at full moon, probably some other stuff I don't even know about ...

Remus walks through the kitchen door, he's been playing the part of host, since Sirius has been out like a light for the past two hours. He comes up to her, puts an arm around her shoulders affectionately, and glances at Snape. "Time you were heading off, Tonks?" he asks.

Snape's expression doesn't change but Tonks can read the look in his eyes. Oh, he doesn't like _that_ at all, he doesn't like Remus touching me, come on, Remus is a darling but he's not my type. He's too sweet for me, even if he is a werewolf. And he's so scruffy … I like guys with _style_.

She looks directly, boldly, into Snape's black eyes. Gosh, he's got eyes like a Hippogriff. "Fancy coming down to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink?" she asks.

He leans forward, speaks in his softest and most dangerous voice. "Just a drink, Miss Tonks?"

She thinks … maybe not just a drink … and, on impulse, she reaches out and puts her hand on his chest, palm down, just over the heart. She feels the heat of his body, and his heart starting to beat faster. It's exciting, the way he's reacted to her touch. And he smells … _good_ … not of soap or aftershave, just something warm and masculine.

Stuck at Hogwarts most of the time, how many women does he get to meet? And it's not as if any of the female staff are possibilities, McGonagall's ancient, Sprout's shapeless, Hooch has a _girlfriend_, Pomfrey's married, and Trelawney is simply out of the question. And she'd never heard of him looking at a student – like he'd dare, Dumbledore would go _spare_ – or any gossip about him picking up women in The Three Broomsticks. The Dark Mark might be a bit of a problem, too, any witch in Europe would know what it meant. A Muggle would think it was just a tattoo, but he wouldn't be interested in Muggles, no way.

She runs her hand across his shoulder and down his arm, takes his hand and pulls him onto his feet. "Maybe not just a drink – how do you feel about DANCING?" she asks.

But his eyes are looking right into hers, he's a Legilimens, right, so he should be getting the message that he could just get lucky tonight, loud and clear, and we are not talking about dancing, right? And she's still holding him by the hand.

Lupin is looking a bit anxious, ye gods he isn't going to invite himself along is he, and ruin what is shaping up to be a way more interesting evening than most Order meetings?

She gestures towards Sirius with her free hand, "Remus, can you get Sirius into bed? Your turn, mate, I picked up the pieces last time he got totally blotto."

Snape grins evilly. "Dear me, Black's inability to do anything _useful_ for the Order seems to be getting to him … Lupin, next time I drop off your Wolfsbane potion shall I bring some hangover remedies?"

Remus mutters something inaudible.

She replies brightly, "Wotcher, Remus, see ya later," and pulls Snape out of the kitchen. He makes no attempt to remove his hand from hers until they near the front door, when he deftly slips his arm around her waist and guides her away from that dratted troll's leg umbrella stand. "We don't want to wake Mrs Black, do we?" he whispers in her ear.

His arm around her is nice, firm and reassuring. She leans her head against his shoulder, tonight is working out just fine. She wonders if he's a good kisser, and then a horrible thought strikes her – he must be, uh, pushing 40, she's never heard of him being with a woman before, what if he's still a virgin, that's a scary thought, don't think I could handle _that_. So she puts her hands up behind his head and pulls his face down to hers and kisses him. _Definitely_ not a virgin. Nope. Just a guy who hasn't got laid in a long, long time. She thinks, maybe we should go straight to my flat and skip the Leaky Cauldron? Her flatmate is away for a few days with her boyfriend, they'll have the place to themselves.

They reach the Apparition point, just inside a dingy alley a few houses away from Number 12, but she leads him a bit further into the alley. Time for some serious snogging, she thinks, and then I'll decide whether it's a drink at the Leaky Cauldron or "dancing" at my place. She holds her face up to be kissed and runs her hands up under his shirt, round his back, feeling the muscles and some puzzling ridges on his skin, he flinches a little when she touches them, oh right they must be curse scars, like the ones she's seen on Mad-Eye Moody's arms. She nuzzles his neck and lets her hands drift lower, to the zipper on his jeans. What was that old Muggle joke – is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?

A thump and a crash remind her of where she is – a dark, dirty little alley in a rough part of Muggle London, and for a moment she's scared, and then she murmurs, "An Auror and a Death Eater, it's the Muggles who want to watch out".

He steps back from her and spits, "What did you say?"

"An Auror and a Death Eater, I mean, what have we got to worry about?"

She can't see his face, it's too dark in the alley, but those words have changed everything. He grabs her shoulders and pushes her roughly up against the alley wall, one hand is across her throat and the other is reaching up under her skirt and pulling her knickers down, and now she's really scared, she can't reach her wand and he's much bigger and stronger than she is. It isn't exciting any more, it's terrifying, she's an Auror, she's supposed to be able to look after herself, but she's crying with fear now, please, please don't.

He's hissing in her ear now, hissing venomously, "So you wanted to hump a Dark wizard, Miss Tonks, something to giggle about with the rest of the Auror Corps? No, I don't think so."

Snape is backing away from her, his wand in his hand, a few sparks spitting from its tip, and in the light from the streetlamp at the entrance to the alley he looks quite deranged, he's snarling with rage. She waits until she's quite sure he's gone, and then she sprints back to Number 12 and bangs on the door. It seems like an age before Remus opens the door, and she brushes straight past him and runs down the hallway. Mrs Black is howling away with her usual insults but Remus says something to her and she shuts up.

She starts crying when she gets to the kitchen, Remus wraps his travelling cloak around her, tactfully ignoring her torn singlet, makes tea and says reassuring things. She doesn't really pay attention to what he's saying, just listens to his soothing voice and mumbles answers to his questions. Eventually she stops crying, and asks whether she can stay the night. She doesn't want to be alone in her flat tonight. Sure, he says, plenty of beds, and he takes her upstairs and gets her settled down in the room that Ginny and Hermione used to sleep in.

She hears the door close, and Remus going downstairs, and she lies there for a while, feeling ashamed, thinking I'm an Auror, I'm not a helpless Muggle girl, what the hell happened there, I should have hexed the bastard into a thousand greasy pieces, but he was really scary, he just went crazy.


	2. Chapter 2: Severus Snape

**Malice in his voice**

**Chapter 2: Snape**

Black paralytic in an Order meeting, oh this is _delicious_, he'll find a way to drop that into his report to Dumbledore, what a pity Potter can't see his dear godfather in this disgusting condition, wouldn't it be rich if Black spewed or pissed himself, and he knows the spells to do just that, nausea or humiliation often soften a subject up for Veritaserum better than pain, pity Bellatrix could never grasp that, but he needs his wand for the spells and he's wary about openly hexing the mutt.

Since that bloody awful night when Black pushed him into showing the Dark Mark to Tonks, he's made sure he doesn't spend a moment more than necessary in the same room with Black, he's afraid of what will happen if Black angers him again, he's afraid of what would happen if he used the Killing Curse. It's been 14 years since the Dark Lord fell, 14 years since he last used the _Avada Kedavra_, but he can still remember the rage and hate that's needed for the curse, and it won't stop with Black if he goes down that road again. Lupin and Moody would be bound to get involved, it would turn into a major firefight, the Aurors would turn up, and he'd be dead or in Azkaban when it was over. Not even Dumbledore could save him from Azkaban if he used an Unforgiveable in front of witnesses – his lip curls – and if it was Black, maybe he wouldn't even want to.

Well, there's no chance of giving Black a little something to add to his hangover, Tonks isn't leaving, the aggravating little hussy, and Lupin will be back in a minute. Perhaps she isn't so aggravating after all, those Muggle clothes don't hide anything, do they? Mmm, she fills that singlet out nicely, could she still be interested after that fiasco with the Dark Mark? He eyes her frankly, might as well let her know that he appreciates an attractive woman, wondering idly if he'll ever get to find out if her pubic hair is the same flaming pink as the hair on her head. She eyes him back, just as frankly.

Lupin comes back into the kitchen, puts his arm around Tonks, for a moment he speculates that Lupin might have put Tonks up to this, in the hopes of literally catching him with his pants down, but it's just a Slytherin reflex, that's not Lupin's style, he's too squeamish, after all Lupin had finally stepped in and acted like a prefect on that horrible day by the Lake when James Potter had threatened to take his underpants off. Ah, so that's how it is, the werewolf is _keen_, probably keener than he knows. A dalliance with Tonks could have an unexpected bonus – like really twisting Lupin up. This is turning into something a lot more interesting than the usual Order meeting.

Tonks is looking directly, boldly, into his eyes. "Fancy coming down to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink?" she asks.

He thinks, Miss Tonks, I am not in the _slightest_ bit interested in having a drink at the Leaky Cauldron. If it's more than a drink, though … He leans forward, speaks in his softest and most dangerous voice. "Just a drink, Miss Tonks?"

She reaches out and puts her hand on his chest, palm down, just over the heart. He knows that she can feel the heat of his body, and his heart starting to beat faster. He can smell her, smell her excitement. The evening is definitely looking up, perhaps it won't be necessary to visit a Muggle singles bar tonight. His habit of frequenting Muggle singles bars when he couldn't stand the asexual atmosphere at Hogwarts any longer, asexual for the staff anyway, the older students snogged relentlessly, was a secret he was keeping from both of his masters. Not that he tried very hard to keep the secret from the Dark Lord, it was always a good idea to let _him_ think he had some dirt on Snape, something to punish him for if he was in the mood for inflicting punishment. And Dumbledore … he had a feeling that Dumbledore knew, and didn't mind. Dumbledore can be irritatingly understanding of vices sometimes, he can just hear him burbling on about what consenting adults get up to in the privacy of their own bedrooms being nobody's business.

Merlin's beard, but he hadn't been with a witch for a long time, Muggle singles bars were safe, he was anonymous in their world, the Dark Mark was just an ugly tattoo, and hardly anyone knew he was a half-blood, wizards would never think to look for him amongst Muggles. Whatever, it was better than visiting brothels, and it helped to keep him from thinking about the students, especially Ginny Weasley, that was really starting to bother him, she reminded him too much of Lily, not just the red hair but her personality: smart, funny, and no bullshit. He would like very much to be able to tell her that the Dark Lord had beaten seven different kinds of crap out of Lucius Malfoy for that stunt with the diary that had nearly got her killed – why had the Dark Lord been so very pissed off about that, Dumbledore had a theory but he wasn't sharing, the crafty old bugger, oh forget it, tonight he's taking a break from his personal war against the Dark Lord, Tonks is saying something about dancing, he looks into her eyes, yep, she means the horizontal kind.

She kisses him by the front door, he wasn't really expecting things to move so fast but that is OK, very OK, and when they get to the Apparition point she pulls him a bit further down the alley and starts kissing him again. Now she's running her hands over the skin of his back, under his shirt, he flinches a little when she touches the curse scars, pray god she's got more tact than to ask how he got them. He nearly yelps when he realizes her hands are pulling down the zipper of his jeans, doesn't she want to wait until they can get a hotel room, doesn't she even want to spend the night with him, and tomorrow's Saturday, he doesn't have any detentions, he'd been looking forward to waking up next to her warm body and making love again. Suddenly, he's angry, what an idiot he's been, for thinking she might want more than sex, might actually want to spend some time with him.

A thump and a crash remind him of where he is – a dark, dirty little alley in a rough part of Muggle London, has he gone MAD, how long is he going to last if he starts letting down his guard like this and letting his groin do the thinking? His wand is in his hand in an instant.

Tonks is murmuring something, something about an Auror and a Death Eater, what is she saying? And then he realises, this is a piece of bitchery worthy of a Slytherin, she just wants to humiliate him, it'll be something to snigger about with Black and Moody and Lupin, I don't think the greasy git's had a fuck in years, he was an absolute _animal_. Well, if she wants to be banged up against a wall, as if she was a cheap Knockturn Alley whore, he'll oblige. He grabs her shoulders and pushes her roughly up against the alley wall, one hand is across her throat and the other is reaching up under her skirt and pulling her knickers down, but she's sobbing, please, please don't. And this is freaking him out completely, he's heard that before, poor bloody Muggle bitches begging them not to do it, and although he doesn't join in, he doesn't do anything to stop it.

Bitch of an Auror, so she thought she wanted to hump a Dark wizard, did she? But she's bitten off a bit more than she can chew, maybe she should have read his Ministry file before putting her hand down his trousers, the stupid bloody bitch.

He hisses something venomous in her ear, then backs away from her, his wand in his hand, a few sparks spitting from its tip, she'd better have a bit more sense than to go running to Dumbledore with a pack of lies about him, Dumbledore _trusts_ him. He repeats to himself, "Dumbledore trusts me, he trusts me", and he can't imagine what it would be like if Dumbledore stopped trusting him, it's just a void, empty and desolate.


	3. Chapter 3: Remus Lupin

**Malice in his voice**

**Chapter 3: Lupin**

He walks back into the kitchen and curses his sensitive werewolf nose, Sirius smells of unwashed Sirius and stale whisky, Snape smells like a rutting stag, and Tonks smells like a … she smells like a very desirable female. No wonder Snape hates werewolves, he can control his words, his face, even his thoughts, but not his scent, and one day that might trip him up, might get him killed. Voldemort is reaching out to all the Dark creatures, giants, werewolves, vampires and the like, and they're going back to him, it might be a werewolf that catches Snape out lying to his Dark Lord. If Tonks wasn't making moves on Snape he'd almost feel sorry for the bastard.

He thinks, Tonks, darling, very few girls get through Auror training, you're smart, you're strong, but do you have any idea what you're dealing with? He remembers Snape's jibe about Dumbledore's tame werewolf in the Shrieking Shack, Dumbledore's got two tame monsters, the werewolf and the Death Eater. Snape is Dumbledore's tame Death Eater, but he's only tame to Dumbledore's hand. He's watched Snape in the Order meetings and the only person he pays attention to is Dumbledore, it's a performance for Dumbledore's benefit alone, he's careful not to antagonize Sirius or Mad-Eye but the only person he really respects is Dumbledore.

He remembers the Boggart class, and wonders, not for the first time, what Snape's Boggart looks like – Voldemort or Dumbledore?

Tonks saying something about dancing. Dancing my foot! Though he can see why she's attracted, most wizards look silly in Muggle clothing but Snape can carry it off, in those ridiculous tight Muggle clothes Snape looks as graceful and as dangerous as a black panther, amazing how he's changed since he was a weedy, defensive teenager. Damn Sirius, he's drinking far too much, if he wasn't comatose this wouldn't have happened, Snape wouldn't be hanging around eyeing off Tonks, he would have been the first to leave the meeting.

Well, Tonks is an adult, she's a qualified Auror, she's not his property, she's never given him a hint that she's interested in more than friendship, if she chooses to play with fire, that's her prerogative. But why does it have to be SNAPE? Bloody hell, she could have anyone she wants so why Snape, that's scraping the bottom of the barrel, one rung above werewolf. Make that tatty, unemployed, friendless, middle-aged werewolf.

He wrestles Sirius to his feet, wrangles him up the stairs and gets him into his bed, gets his boots off but leaves his clothes on, and throws a blanket over him. He's only just come down stairs and put the kettle on for tea when there's a frantic banging on the front door, as soon as he opens the door, Tonks pushes past him, Merlin she looks awful, her clothes are ripped, and her hair has lost all of its colour. Mrs Black starts howling but he is no mood for it, he threatens to hex Mrs Black and she can tell by his tone he means it and she shuts up at once.

Tonks is crying and shivering in the kitchen, her hair is a lifeless mousy brown, what the hell has Snape done to her? His werewolf's nose tells him that she stinks of fear but of nothing worse, thank god, Snape hasn't touched her. He wraps her in his travelling cloak, makes tea, and sits beside her, with his arm around her.

"Hey, what happened out there?"

"Nothing happened, he just went crazy, I thought he was going to kill me."

"You looked pretty friendly on your way out …"

"Remus, I'm telling you, he just went mental. All I said was, an Auror and a Death Eater, no one was going to bother us, this is a rough area, I was thinking about muggers."

"You called him a Death Eater?"

"No! Well, yes, but not in a bad way. Not the way Sirius calls him a Death Eater."

Oh dear, he thinks, I'm not sure Severus can see _that_ distinction. He's a bit sensitive about being a Death Eater, the way I'm a bit sensitive about being a werewolf, except that I work _very_ hard at not being sensitive. After all, I'm only a werewolf at full moon, he's a Death Eater all of the time.

He tries to explain to Tonks. "Tonks, don't take this personally. Severus is a very suspicious person." Mentally, he substitutes "paranoid". "He might have thought you were, um, showing a bit of an interest in him just for, ah …. " He flounders. He wants to say "a notch on your belt" or "scalp" but that's the sort of thing men say about women, he can't find the right words. He thinks about the kind of women who have shown interest in him occasionally. Women who thought it would be a thrill to be able to say they'd slept with a werewolf. Slept with a werewolf the night before full moon. Nutters. Trophy hunters. And Bellatrix Black, as she was then, he'd been dazed when Sirius' beautiful cousin noticed him, she'd relieved him of the burden of his virginity in something less than three minutes, oh yes, bold, beautiful, sexy Bellatrix Black must have been one of Voldemort's most effective recruiting agents.

He finds words. "So you could brag about having slept with a Dark wizard."

She wipes her nose on the edge of his cloak. "He pretty much said that."

Oh dear oh dear. Now he does feel sorry for Severus.

"Tonks," he says, "Severus is a very … difficult … position. He's got a murky past and a dark secret and I don't think gorgeous young women come his way very often. I think he's probably very lonely." Mentally, he adds "and frustrated". "What I'm trying to say is, a guy like that has got a lot of problems and you're not responsible for them. You mustn't blame yourself if things went wrong, it's about _him_, it's not about _you_. It's not your fault."

He's thinking, who am I talking about here, me or him? He gently takes her face in his hands and turns it towards him. "Listen, Tonks, you're young, you're attractive, you're talented, you're a really sweet kid. You should be looking for some nice young bloke, someone of your own age. Not someone who's nearly old enough to be your father and who's got an awful lot of baggage. You don't want to get tangled up with someone like Severus."

No, you don't want to get tangled up with me.

"Severus is … he's dangerous. You saw that tonight. Harry, Ron and Hermione were only able to disarm him in the Shrieking Shack because he didn't think for a moment they could be a threat. For god's sake, he is a Death Eater! Maybe you should have a look at his Ministry file, see what he's really capable of."

And he thinks, I'm dangerous, too. I'm a bloody werewolf! Maybe you should see me when I'm transformed, see what I'm really capable of. Tonks, read my lips, you don't want to ride this pony. Please, please don't throw yourself at me the way you were throwing yourself at Severus tonight, because I won't be able to say no, either, and we'll both get hurt. Except I _won't_ let you get hurt, I won't be weak, I won't let you get close enough to get hurt.

She drinks her tea, and he takes her up to the girls' room, the beds aren't made up, but the bedclothing is in a cupboard and he gets her tucked in, she's hardly wearing any clothes, no need to take them off, nothing to worry about really, she treats him like a brother, nothing's going to happen. Dream on, Remus, he thinks savagely, ha, where did you get the idea that a girl like Tonks could be interested in _you_?

He goes downstairs, what a night, perhaps he'll have something to drink that's a bit stronger than tea.


End file.
